1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improved load balancing of distributed printing systems, such as a client/server printing system, through use of enhanced printer attributes.
2. Description of Related Art
Known distributed printing systems, such as client/server printing networks, include one or more servers and multiple printers associated with the server. In such systems, first-in-first-out (FIFO) queuing is often used. Typically, a job from a particular user is sent to a particular user-defined and selected printer. Such a system does not optimally utilize its resources, as certain printers inevitably handle more job requests than other available printers. In such a scenario, one particular printer may have a long job queue and long delay times in printing while other networked printers are in an idle state (i.e., not in current use).
Recently, distributed printing systems have been designed in an attempt to improve on this by providing some degree of load balancing. In such systems, if a selected output device is in use, the job request will be spooled to an available printer within the distributed system. Such a system provides limited load balancing (i.e., if three printers are provided, each will receive on average about 1/3 of the search requests).
Additionally, while some printers within certain distributed printing system environments are capable of providing information back to the server (i.e., idle, printing), some "dumb" printers or foreign printers (i.e., printers not supported by a particular printing system) may not be capable of returning feedback information useful in determining load balancing.